Have you ever wondered why Monday became National Bench Press Day? Or why you work your chest, shoulders, arms, and abs before you train your legs?
Traditions die hard, but logic needs to take precedence over habit in your quest for the perfect physique. Monday should be your leg day, and here are 10 undeniable reasons why.
Time to break tradition and start training the right way!
1. Legs Are Your Biggest Muscle Group
Your glutes, quads, and hamstrings are the biggest muscles in your body. If you prioritize smaller muscles, you’ll have less strength to train your large ones. Heavy-compound lifting with exercises like squats and leg press activate the anabolic mechanism to optimise the muscle-building process.
Leg training instigates the release of testosterone and growth hormones more than other exercises. You’ve seen the bros with the big upper body and toothpick legs. It’s not a pretty sight — especially given all the hard work they put in. Train your larger muscles first and save the smaller muscles for later.
2. Greater Energy Stores
Coming off the weekend, you’ll have a lot more energy hitting the gym on Monday. Most people enjoy a relaxing weekend. You’ve let your muscles rest and you probably enjoyed a large cheat meal on Sunday or Saturday evening. Time to put the surplus calories and energy to good use!
Squats are arguably one of the most mentally and physically difficult exercises. Do yourself a favor and hit your legs hard on Monday. You’ll find the extra energy goes a long way in helping you go strong throughout the entire workout.
3. You Haven’t Exhausted Supporting Muscles
Leg exercises don’t only engage your leg muscles. When you squat, you use your arms to squeeze the bar tightly, while you also use your core and lower back muscles to stabilize your spine and support the weight.
Working your legs on Monday will give you additional strength from your supporting muscles. If you train legs during the week after heavy bench press, deadlifts, and resistance ab workouts, you’ll lack the strength to give your legs 100%.
4. Your Motivation Is at Its Peak
You know how Mondays are. You’re itching to get back in the gym and feel the pump. You resisted the urge to kill your Sunday rest day, and now you’re ready to give the gym everything you’ve got.
Use that drive and enthusiasm to push through the intense leg day! You know how hard those Friday and Saturday workouts can be. By the end of the week, you hardly have the mental strength to get through your last set of deadlifts, much less finish with pretty form. Harness your motivation and throw your passion into your leg workout!
5. Your Legs Are Fresh
You probably mix in some cardio throughout the week: running, cycling, swimming, etc. These workouts don’t stimulate great muscle growth, but they can take a toll on your leg muscles. Try doing some HIIT sprints or cycling and then perform heavy squats the next day. You can bet you’re not going to beat your PB!
But the reverse is still possible. After legs training, you can go for a light jog the next morning without too much difficulty. Train your legs on Monday and enjoy your cardio throughout the rest of week whenever you please…the beast has already been slain.
6. Your Legs Should Be a Priority
Think about it. How often are you pushing heavy objects off your chest or lifting items from your thighs to your shoulders in your day-to-day? Probably not too often. Can you even recall the last time?
Sitting down, standing up, walking, climbing the stairs, playing sports, driving, even getting out of bed — all leg power. And probably all things you’ve done today, if not at least some time in the last week. Legs should be a priority, and therefore, should come first in the week!
Don’t worry if no one else in your gym does legs on Monday. Once they see your killer results, you might actually convert some to your logical style of training. Expect the squat racks to start filling up on Mondays, unfortunately.
Set the new tradition for weightlifting. Make Monday National Squat Day!
